Paula Poundstone was very young when she started her comedy career in suburban Boston. One only has to look at the summary sent home to her parents at the end of her Kindergarten year in May of 1965. The teacher wrote, "I have enjoyed many of Paula’s humorous comments about our activities." Paula loved the idea that an adult found her funny and knew then she wanted to make people laugh. "I didn’t key in on stand-up until I was an adult," she explains, "and the stand-up comedy scene seem to be rejuvenated across the country. Boston was one of those cities where it was happening." A year later she was in San Francisco with the likes of Bobcat Goldthwait, Will Durst and Marc Maron. "That was a really fun, exciting time. Tons of open mics. We were all young pups." Fans of public radio will recognize her as a regular on the weekly news quiz program Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, heard locally on 91.7 WVXU. "The way I work and the format of that show are really a terrific marriage. It's been great for me and really fun to do." The biggest challenge, not surprisingly, is simply keeping up the news. "My ability to keep up with what's going on in the world is largely dependent on what's going on home. The more drama at the Poundstone household the less I know about the world outside of it. When that happens I just say ‘Iraq,’ hoping that’s the answer.” Poundstone performs at the Madison Theatre, 730 Madison Ave., Covington, 8 p.m. Saturday.
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